Guard
by Abstract Ideas
Summary: The duty of an Imperial Guard is not to kneel. The duty of an Imperial Guard is not to run. The duty of an Imperial Guard is not to submit. The duty of an Imperial Guard is to stand, and fight in the God-Emperor's name.


He stands there.

He is one of many members of the Imperial Guard. The lowest rank. He is a trooper.

He has received just barely enough training. He knows how to aim. He knows how to shoot. He knows how to reload. That is it.

He stands there, alongside his superiors and his friends. He stands there alongside his fellow troopers, ready to storm in and reclaim the world in the Emperor's name. He is scared. This is his first engagement. This is the first time he has fought.

His commander screams, telling them all to jump. To reclaim the planet, to purge it of cursed traitors and perfidious xenos. His commander tells him to pray for the God-Emperor's favour, he tells them that they will not run, for they are the Imperial Guard, and they fear no one.

The transport nears the ground. He takes a deep breath, even as his fellow troopers begin running out.

And he runs out as well, ready to slay the enemy.

* * *

He stands alone against a terrifying opponent.

The ground beside it is littered with corpses. Corpses of people he once knew, laughed alongside, ate beside, fought beside. It barely looks scratched and wounded. It hasn't noticed him yet.

The voices tell him he can't win this alone. That he should just simply run, or submit to something called 'Chaos'. All that he must do, in order to receive the power to best his opponent, is to renounce the God-Emperor. To turn his back on the Golden Throne, and embrace Chaos as his new master.

They tell him to serve Khorne, the god of blood and war. They tell him he will be the greatest warrior in the entire galaxy. They tell him that he will find victory in every battle, for the power of Khorne will eternally run through him. They tell him to kneel before the Skull Throne, and embrace the madness of the Blood God and revel in it.

More voices come. These ones tell him to kneel to Slaanesh, the god of pleasure and pain. He is told that he will be given pleasure beyond reckoning. That he will live in it. They tell him of the powers that Slaanesh will gift to him. The pain that he will inflict upon his foes. The pleasure he will gain from it. They tell him to kneel to the Dark Prince, and to become one of the many heralds of Slaanesh's gifts.

A single voice is noticed amongst the bunch. This one tells him to serve Tzeentch, the god of fate and change. It tells him that he will change the galaxy forever. That he will know every secret that there is to know. That he will change the galaxy for the better, and his name will be remembered across history eternally. It says to toss aside the Corpse on the Golden Throne, and to embrace change and become an architect of change in Tzeentch's name.

A final voice appears. It sounds friendly, unlike the other ones. This one says that unlike the other gods, Nurgle will never abandon him. It tells him that Nurgle will never abandon his family, and that should he choose to join Nurgle, he will never be abandoned. He will join the plague bearers, and he will never feel pain again. He will become decay, and he will find new friends and a new family to laugh alongside. All he must do is enter Nurgle's service.

The voices are all he can hear. The voices are all that fills his head. He could kneel. He could submit to what the voices are telling him, and he could live. All he must do, is betray the God-Emperor and turn his back on the Golden Throne.

He ignores every single one of them. He trusts in the God-Emperor. And the God-Emperor will protect him.

"For the God-Emperor beyond the point of death." He murmurs, even as the voices scream in denial, in vengeance, in hatred.

He raises his rifle. He shoots. His opponent turns, not even hurt by the laser. It sees him. He swears that it smiles. And it charges at him, roaring a challenge at him.

He raises the bayonet at the end. He charges toward his enemy, screaming the God-Emperor's name.

There is a flash. And his head falls to the ground, his body collapsing alongside it, like a puppet with its strings cut. The enemy grunts, and moves away from the body. It is bored. It was hoping for more of a fight. No matter. There should be more to fight later.

Yet even as the lone trooper dies, he is faithful. The voices have stopped, and he goes to join the God-Emperor now.

* * *

His regiment is recorded as gone, completely destroyed. The planet is reclaimed, albeit at a heavy cost. The threat is gone and dead.

The lone trooper who stood against the threat is gone and dead. He is not remembered. He is not a hero. He is merely one of many troopers, who all did the same thing as him. He is not the only one who charged against it, despite knowing that he would die. He is barely remembered and will be forgotten in mere decades. He did not die killing the enemy. He died against the enemy, futilely charging at it, and did not kill anything upon that day.

There was no honour in that death. There was no glory in it. He did not die holding back a daemon of unspeakable powers. He did not die killing a perfidious xeno. He did not die, slaying a traitor.

He died alone, amidst a sea of corpses.

Yet he did not turn against the Emperor, despite all reasoning screaming at him to. He did not succumb to the screaming voices in his head, joining the heretic and the traitor in treason against the Emperor.

He died in the God-Emperor's name. And for him, even though he was dead?

That was enough.

* * *

**You might be wondering why I wrote this. The answer is quite simple, really. Boredom.**

**Now, I could work on that other story I've got, but consistency is just not my thing.**

**Honestly, I've always been kind of impressed with the Imperial Guard in general. Not only do they have to deal with consistent threats from Chaos, but they have to face super soldiers and traitors basically every day. They have to fight literal abominations and aliens which make most sci-fi movie aliens look like an adorable plushie, all while armed with nothing more than a gun and some armour.**


End file.
